I have always wondered how people are conned into believing something when all the evidence point to the contrary.
I was in a Super Market yesterday picking some vegetables. The guy who had to weigh the vegetables was following the New Zealand - Pakistan World Cup T 20 Match on his mobile. He was apparently a young Pakistani. Pakistan was chasing 180, and needed 85 from 48 balls with 7 Wickets in hand. He gave me the score update and wishfully said "Saab, we will win. 85 from 48 balls, Afridi is on strike". Knowing Pakistan's fragile batting I was skeptical, but comforted him that they will win definitely. His faith in Afridi was unshakeable, though Afridi has hardly won any match with his bat for Pakistan during the past 20 years he has been playing. An explosive batsmen no doubt, but his regular failure on big occasions or otherwise is legendary. But the guy still believed in him. Maybe, it is because Pakistan fans have little else to believe in these days. Afridi failed once again, and Pakistan lost the match by 22 runs or so.
The Indian Cricket team management is no less guilty. They still believe that Shikhar Dhawan is a good opener, Suresh Raina is the most talented youngster in India, Rohit is the solution to all our batting problems and Ravindra Jadeja is an all rounder. Dhawan scores once in 10 innings, Suresh Raina never scores, Rohit is better but a disaster in Tests and I have forgotten when Jadeja ever scored a few runs for the Country. But we still persist with them.
I have seen many parents having a false notion about the ability of their children, expecting them to do things beyond their ability. They try to live their unfulfilled dreams through their children, leading to considerable stress.
I know of a Business Associate who sent his son to Australia for studies to do a 4 year Engineering Course. The boy spent 8 years and came back broken with a 1 1/2 years diploma. Another family friend spent a fortune putting her son in the Medical College and the boy did not even complete 1 Semester in 6 years, and came out totally defeated, confidence shaken. In both the cases the parents had a wrong notion about their Children's abilities and should have been more careful.
We make the same mistake in our Workplace, favouring certain employees, who normally have better interpersonal skills, than those who are the real work horses adding value every day to the Organization. We end up with the good silent worker getting dejected and quitting, leaving us with only those who are worthless.
We need to be realistic all the time, assess the capabilities of the people around us and set reasonable expectations, or else considerable disappointment is in store for all concerned.
